In the Massive central of France a young child (Bertille Noel-Bruneau) accidentally meets a fox. As her fascination for the creature grows she spends a number of seasons befriending the creature. She names the vixen Lily and the two spark up a cautious relationship...

The Fox and the Child (Le Renard et L’enfant 2008, 1 hr, 30 min, 37 sec) was directed by Academy Award Winner Luc Jacquet, who reinvigorated the cinema nature documentary with March of the Penguins (2005). This film is different in that Jacquet has linked both a pseudo nature film with a form of fairy tale.

Bruneau, a button nosed cutie, has few spoken lines in the film and what she does have are badly dubbed anyway. Instead Kate Winslet takes the role of the narrator, the child as an adult reminiscing, for the piece and whilst her enthusiasm is evident in her presentation she lacks the gravitas of Morgan Freeman.

The film appears to have been designed for children so some of the less savoury aspects of animal behaviour have been brushed under the carpet, which detracts from the documentary aspects of the film leaving a parable about friendships not equalling ownership.

The only way to watch the movie is to suspend all disbelief and just enjoy the beautiful cinematography as it charts the changing seasons in central France and the wildlife that inhabits it. Otherwise some perplexing questions start to arise. What happened to all the other people in the world, especially her parents, who we presume are in agreement with her spending every minute of her spare time stalking a fox? Of course, this sort of odd behaviour may explain why she appears to have no friends at all. Had the film been set in a more urban area it’s likely we would be watching a film about a child’s treatment for an obsessive-compulsive disorder, such is the tenacity she displays in chasing the poor fox.

The disc comes with few extras, just a photo gallery with fifteen pictures and the theatrical trailer.

It’s an odd film, not really a documentary and not wholly successful as a story. Where it does do well is in the presentation. Undoubtedly a beautiful but flawed film which children are likely to find enchanting.

7

Charles Packer